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3 Signs You Might Be Too Close to Your Manuscript (and what to do about it)
Are You Too Close to Your Manuscript? You’ve been living inside your manuscript for weeks, maybe months, or even years. You know it inside and out. You’ve rewritten scenes, reshaped chapters, reworked whole sections. And now? You can’t tell if it’s brilliant or a disaster. This moment is completely normal, and a telltale sign that…
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Why Editing Isn’t Just About Grammar: It’s About Protecting the Reader’s Experience
When most people hear the word editing, they think of red pens, grammar rules (the dreaded grammar police), and someone wagging a finger at a misplaced comma. But editing isn’t just about grammar. While yes—grammar matters. But as a book coach and editor, I can tell you that editing goes much deeper than sentence structure.…
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How to Punctuate a Pause
Readers have expectations; writers have responsibilities. How does an author communicate to the reader the way in which they intend the text to be read? Punctuation. How do you punctuate a pause in the text? Let’s explore. We know the basics: a period ends a statement, stop here; an exclamation point shows excitement; a question…